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Bogaerts, Ranaudo to represent Sox in Futures Game

Bogaerts, Ranaudo to represent Sox in Futures Game

2/23/13: Xander Bogaerts ropes a single to center field to score Jeremy Hazelbaker, pulling the Red Sox within a run in the ninth

By Michael Periatt
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MLB.com |

BOSTON -- The Red Sox will have two representatives when baseball's brightest prospects take the field before the All-Star Game this season.

Shortstop Xander Bogaerts and right-hander Anthony Ranaudo were selected to partake in the Sirius XM All-Star Futures Game on July 14, joining 48 other Minor League players considered to be the next generation of MLB.

Bogaerts will play for the World Team and Ranaudo will suit up for the United States squad. This is Bogaerts' second trip to the Futures Game. Last year while batting fifth for the World Team at Kauffman Stadium, Bogaerts was 1-for-4 in a 17-5 romp by the U.S. squad.

Honored to be selected to the MLB Futures game this All Star break. Appreciate everyone's tweets. Thank you. See you at CitiField.

After putting up dazzling numbers at Double-A Portland, Bogaerts, 20, was promoted to Triple-A Pawtucket earlier this month. In total, he's batted .294 this year with nine home runs and 40 RBIs. A native of Aruba, he's ranked by MLB.com as Boston's No. 1 prospect. Bogaerts primarily plays shortstop, but the Sox are trying him at other infield positions as well to accelerate his progression to the Major Leagues.

Ranaudo, rated as Boston's No. 16 prospect, has been dominant at Portland this season, going 7-2 with a 2.28 ERA.

Boston selected the 6-foot-7 right-hander in the first round of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft, and after battling a groin injury and shoulder fatigue last season, Ranaudo has been as impressive as any pitching prospect in the Sox's system.

For the first time, fans determined the final player on the U.S. and World Team rosters by casting their votes in the All-Star Sunday Futures Finalists ballot.

Third baseman Garin Cecchini, the Red Sox's No. 7 prospect, was named one of the five Futures Finalists for the U.S. team, but Mets prospect Brandon Nimmo was the top vote-getter. Astros prospect Carlos Correa landed the final spot on the World Team.

The 15th annual Sirius XM All-Star Futures Game takes place at 2 p.m. ET on All-Star Sunday at Citi Field in New York and can be seen live on MLB.com, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD and followed live on MLB.com's Gameday. In addition, XM Radio will broadcast play-by-play coverage of the event live on MLB Network Radio XM 89. MLB.com will also provide complete coverage before, during and after the game. Fans can stay updated by following @MLBFutures on Twitter and can send/receive tweets to/from the U.S. and World Team dugouts during the game by tagging tweets with the hashtags #USDugout and #WorldDugout.

Michael Periatt is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.